With a Cherry on Top
by Briar Rose
Summary: Tom embarrasses B'Elanna and tries to apoligize with chocolate.


  
Title: With a Cherry on Top  
Author: Briar Rose  
Email: boo.roo@sympatico.ca  
Rating: PG-13  
Part: 1/1  
Posting: Please ask me before you do.  
  
Disclaimer: Viacom/Paramount owns the characters and all things   
Trek. It's not my fault if Tom and B'Elanna are so much fun to   
play with and TPTB leave me wanting more.  
  
Summary: Tom does it again and attempts to apologize with   
chocolate. This is an origin story for B'Elanna's (fan fiction)   
obsession with chocolate set sometime before "the Chute." ie:   
Tom and B'Elanna are just friends. Let's assume Naomi Wildman   
had a growth spurt and she appears about the size of a human two   
year old. Thanks go out to DangerMom who was far more gracious   
than she had to be under the circumstances. Tom's promise to Harry is   
from her story, "No Good Deed, or Stuff and Nonsense." A huge thanks   
to my beta reading buddy, Liz for the morale boost and the kick in the   
butt.  
  
Date: December 2000  
  
  
  
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"I like tomato soup, and I like ice cream sandwiches too.  
I like pizza, but I love you."   
- With apologies to The Barenaked Ladies*  
  
  
  
The mess was fairly crowded for the late hour. Members of gamma   
shift were bravely facing breakfast, competing for table space   
with the stragglers from alpha shift who were not quite ready to   
call it a night. It had been a long day.   
  
For Tom and Harry the morning had begun at 04:00 hours with a   
surprise staff meeting, followed by systems checks, drills and   
repairs, all designed to keep Voyager's crew "on their toes."  
They were more than tired, but instead of going to bed they sat in   
the mess in silence, staring into their mugs listening to the ebb   
and flow of conversation around them. The doors slid open,   
admitting Voyager's chief engineer. B'Elanna paused in front of   
Neelix's buffet and surveyed the dishes. She shook her head   
slightly and crossed to Tom and Harry's table sliding wearily   
into the chair beside Harry, elbows propped on the table.  
  
"Not hungry, B'Elanna?" Harry asked.  
  
"I'm too tired to eat. I feel like I could sleep for a week   
but my mind won't shut off." She rested her forehead on her   
hands and closed her eyes.  
  
"Really?" Tom teased. "I thought this was a normal day for you."   
  
"That's the problem," she bristled. "Engineering is the largest   
department on the ship and none of them can do a thing without me.   
They ask permission before they check a relay. I'm their chief,   
not their mother, you'd think some of them could show some   
initiative. Think for themselves."  
  
Tom's mouth quirked. "Well, maybe that's because every time they   
do you bite someone's head off. If you want them to think   
independently, B'Elanna, you have to cut the apron strings. Give   
them some room to maneuver, you might be surprised how well they   
do without you." He risked a glance at B'Elanna. Her head shot   
up and her eyebrows drew together in an angry scowl. She opened   
her mouth but Harry interrupted before she could blast Tom for his   
comments. He shot Tom a warning look.  
  
"They just respect your opinion B'Elanna," Harry soothed.   
"They probably just don't want to make anything worse for you   
right now."  
  
B'Elanna ignored him. "So are you saying I've been snapping at   
people lately?" She directed the full force of her aggression at   
Tom. Her enunciation was precise. "If they can't do the job, or   
take the pressure maybe they shouldn't have joined Starfleet to   
begin with."  
  
Tom felt adrenaline surge through him. Suddenly he wasn't tired   
anymore and he rose slightly in his seat. "That's my point, a   
third of them didn't join Starfleet. You should remember that   
since they came from your Maquis ship."  
  
"I managed to make the transition just fine," she ground out.  
  
He was undaunted. "Oh...well, I can see that!"  
  
"Would you two cut it out," Harry interrupted. "I'm not in the   
mood to referee tonight. Can't we just sit here like civilized   
people without you two snapping at each other? Just once I'd like   
to share a table with both of my friends and have a pleasant   
conversation without it downspiraling into a brawl."  
  
The mess had quieted and people were starting to stare at them.   
Tom had the grace to look chagrined. He risked a glance at   
B'Elanna and judged she had cooled to a simmer. Harry was right,   
and he had promised to try to get along with B'Elanna. Time for a   
peace offering, he decided. "Would you like a something to drink,   
B'Elanna?" He motioned to Harry's coffee cup, "Replicated, I'm   
buying."  
  
"He's not as magnanimous as he sounds, B'Elanna. Those were my   
rations," Harry complained.  
  
"Harry, don't you know by now not to bet on sure thing? You   
lost them fair and square."  
  
B'Elanna sent Tom a narrowed glance. He raised an eyebrow and   
looked at Harry, daring her to start something by turning down his   
offer. Before she could reply, the mess door slid open and   
Samantha Wildman walked in carrying her young daughter. Naomi had   
her head buried in her mother's neck and her small, high voice   
carried across to their table. "I don't want you to work. I   
don't want Neelix, I want you to play wif me."  
  
Sam sighed patiently and adjusted Naomi in her arms. "Sweetie, we   
talked about this. You know mommy has to work tonight. I mean   
today. Neelix will look after you."  
  
"No!" Naomi was not in the mood to be reasonable.  
  
"Good evening, Naomi." Neelix came up to the little girl   
and held out his arms. She went to him and hugged him tightly.   
"It's morning silly, I just got up," she said.  
  
"Why, you're right," Neelix replied. "I was confused."  
  
"Yeah, you were confused." Naomi giggled into his whiskers.  
  
"Would you like some breakfast? I have Eskarian eggs. I know   
they're your favorite." Neelix tried steering the little   
girl toward the kitchen.  
  
"I want something sweet," she stated.  
  
Tom could hear the calm tones of Sam Wildman, "After you have   
breakfast, sweetie."  
  
"No! Something sweet first!" she whined. Tom's eyes slid from   
Naomi's retreating figure to B'Elanna. The implication wasn't   
lost on her.  
  
"What are you drinking?" She peered into his mug. "It smells   
funny."  
  
He shot her a lazy grin. "Chamomile tea with honey. It's   
supposed to be calming."  
  
B'Elanna refused to rise to the challenge. "Can I have a   
taste?"  
  
That surprised him. "Ah...sure." He pushed the mug toward  
B'Elanna.  
  
She raised it to her nose and sniffed. It did smell odd to her,   
but she was used to some foods smelling strange to her Klingon   
nose. She took a cautious sip, then her face puckered as the   
flavor of the tea hit her tongue. Her eyes squinted almost shut   
as she tried not to let the offensive liquid slide to the back of   
mouth. Tom and Harry watched in awe, certain she would either   
spit the tea back into the mug or all over Tom. Tom was betting   
on the latter. She bravely swallowed, to Harry's relief, and   
slammed the mug down on the table in front of Tom. He jumped back   
with a "Hey!" as the warm liquid sloshed onto the table in front   
of him.  
  
B'Elanna was furious. "Very funny!" she shouted. "That's the   
last time I put anything of yours into my mouth, Tom Paris!"  
  
There was a stillness in the mess. An audible silence. Then   
someone snorted. B'Elanna was on her feet leaning across the   
table, her nose inches from Tom's. As muffled laughter rolled   
across the room, she straightened and with a final glare at the   
pilot, stormed from the room. Tom heard someone mutter, "Now he's   
blown it," and the room erupted in roars of laughter.   
  
A crewman walked behind Tom and clapped him on the shoulder,   
wiping tears from his eyes as he passed. Tom was red to his hair.   
'Fantastic' he thought, 'just great. She's gonna kill me.'   
  
Harry's face was impassive. "You just can't resist, can   
you? One meal--that's all I asked for. Not even a meal, just a   
friendly drink at the end of shift. But no, you have to bait her,   
don't you?"  
  
"Honest, Harry it's just tea with honey." Tom was imploring. "I   
have no idea what her problem is." Harry didn't appear to believe   
him. "I didn't even know she was going to show up, remember?   
I've had that mug for twenty minutes. How was I to know it would   
taste like...whatever it tastes like to a Klingon?"  
  
Harry sighed. He realized Tom was right. This time Tom had   
honestly tried to be nice to B'Elanna. "Well, intended or not,   
you've offended her. I'd apologize if I were you."  
  
"I know," he sighed. "but how do you make up for public   
humiliation?" His eyes searched the room reflexively and fell on   
Naomi Wildman. She was sitting on the counter facing Neelix   
holding out an empty tray.  
  
"All gone," she piped. "Can I have something sweet now?"  
  
"I don't see why not," Neelix replied. "Now, let's see, what do   
I have?" He kept a restraining hand on her knee while he bent   
to search under the counter. Tom jumped up.  
  
"Neelix! I have an idea." Tom walked around the counter   
to face Naomi. "Do you like chocolate?"  
  
The little girl grinned and nodded her head. She put her arms   
around Tom's neck as he lifted her and began to walk toward the   
replicator. Harry got the feeling that Tom had some experience in   
apologizing to women.  
  
  
A while later...   
  
  
Tom stepped off the lift on deck nine. It was past midnight and   
he hoped B'Elanna was still up. The corridors of Voyager were   
mostly empty, but the few crew members he had passed on his   
journey from the mess hall had sent him odd looks. You'd think   
they'd never seen one before. It was starting to drip and he   
licked a trail of sticky chocolate from his wrist. He stopped   
outside her door, muttered "courage" under his breath, and   
pressed her door chime.   
  
"Come."   
  
The door slid open to reveal B'Elanna. She was wearing her red   
lounging pajamas, leaning against the door frame, one eyebrow   
raised. "What's this supposed to be?" she asked, her voice   
neutral.  
  
Tom smiled encouragingly and held out his trophy. "It's   
supposed to be an apology," he answered.  
  
"I assumed that," she replied. "What IS it?"   
  
Tom stared at her dumfounded. "It's chocolate ice cream,  
B'Elanna. Don't tell me you've never had any before. I thought   
you were raised in a human colony."  
  
"I was. But my mother wasn't very fond of human food."   
  
"Didn't the other kids have ice cream at their birthday   
parties?" he asked.  
  
Her eyes shuttered and he saw her mouth tighten slightly. "I   
don't know. I didn't go to many parties when I was a child,"   
she answered.  
  
He suddenly realized how little he knew about her. He wondered   
just how lonely she'd been growing up in that human colony.   
"You must have been lonely," he ventured.  
  
"I survived."  
  
Tom shuffled his feet. "Look, B'Elanna, can I come in?"  
  
"With that?" She gestured to the cone. "It's dripping."  
  
A crewman walked by and raised an eyebrow at the scene outside   
B'Elanna's door. "Lieutenants," she nodded.  
  
"Crewman." B'Elanna nodded back, then watched her disappear   
around a bend in the corridor before stepping back to allow Tom   
into her quarters. "All right. Come in for a minute."   
  
Tom followed her toward the couch and held out the frozen   
confection again. "Well, are you going to take it?" He   
licked more melted chocolate from his thumb.  
  
B'Elanna eyed the cone again, then reached out and closed her   
fingers around Tom's as he released the ice cream. He felt an   
odd tingle in his arm, right up to his elbow.  
  
"What do I do with it?" she asked. She was deadly serious.  
  
"You lick it. Or bite it if you want to," Tom replied.   
He tried to remember what he had heard about people who lick ice   
cream cones as opposed to people who bite them.   
  
B'Elanna, apparently, was a biter. He watched her eyes go round   
and the corners of her mouth tilt up as the chocolate melted in   
her mouth. "It's cold!" she said, sounding delighted.  
  
Tom laughed in reply. "ICE cream, B'Elanna," he said.   
"It's supposed to be cold."  
  
She took another healthy lick and held it out to him. "Do you   
want some?" she asked.   
  
"No thanks," he replied. "I've had more than enough   
tonight."  
  
"How many have you had?" she asked. She was pushing on   
the top of the ice cream with a finger, and it slid a bit into   
the hollow of the cone. She looked delighted.  
  
"Two. It took a few tries to get a variety of chocolate that   
wasn't too sweet. This one has more cocoa and less sugar."   
  
"It took you three tries to figure it out?" She was touched as   
she thought of the drain on his rations.  
  
Tom shrugged. "Actually, it took me six. Naomi Wildman ate   
the other three."  
  
B'Elanna had licked the ice cream into a point and was using a   
fingernail to create a spiral pattern in the frozen dessert.   
"Ummm--" she said.  
  
Tom chuckled. He'd been awake for over twenty hours and he was   
starting to feel a little punch-drunk. He watched, mesmerized as   
she licked the ice cream from her finger.  
  
"What's the handle called?" she asked. She looked straight at   
him, her eyes bright.  
  
Tom swallowed. "You mean the cone?" he asked.  
  
"Yes, what does it taste like? As good as the ice cream?"   
B'Elanna lifted the point of the cone to her mouth.  
  
Tom tried to stop her. "I wouldn't do that, B'Elanna!"   
he cautioned. "The ice cream's too soft, it'll drip everywhere."  
  
The cone cracked under her teeth and melted ice cream dripped onto   
her chin and collar bone. She laughed and started to suck the ice   
cream out the bottom of the cone.  
  
Tom felt desire hit him like a sucker punch to the gut. He wanted   
to reach out and wipe the drips from her chest. Hell, he wanted   
to lick them off. He shifted away from her on the couch and   
brought a pillow between them. To ward her off? Where had it   
come from, he wondered. He had never really considered B'Elanna   
that way before. She was brilliant certainly, strong minded   
definitely, but--he realized she was stunning; sexy and strong   
and she had the most amazing eyes. He shook his head to clear it   
and retreated further into the couch. This was crazy. He didn't   
think of B'Elanna that way. She was Harry's friend, his friend   
too, to be honest. Ensign Jatel was certainly more classically   
beautiful...and either Delany sister was more voluptuous. Tom   
was starting to panic.   
  
B'Elanna finished the ice cream cone, oblivious to his epiphany.   
She wiped the drips from her collar bone with her thumb and licked   
it clean. She had forgotten about her chin. Tom's eyes were   
drawn to the brown smudge just below her lips. 'My God,' he   
thought, 'she has a beautiful mouth. I have to get out of   
here!'  
  
B'Elanna faced him and grinned. "That was amazing, Tom!   
Apology accepted."  
  
Tom leapt to his feet and backed to the door. Where the hell was   
it? Why wasn't it swishing open?  
  
B'Elanna raised an eyebrow. "Is something wrong, Tom?"   
she asked. She advanced on him, concern creasing her brow.  
  
"No, no of course not," he lied. "I've--um--just been up too   
long. I'm really tired. I'm glad you liked it, I'll send the   
instructions to your replicator in the morning if you like."   
His back came up against the wall and he groped for the door with   
one hand, the other raised as a shield between himself and B'Elanna.  
  
She raised a hand to the combadge on his chest. "Do you want   
me to call sickbay?"   
  
"No!" he yelped. He inched along the wall and was rewarded with   
the door opening.   
  
"Ensign Wildman to Lieutenant Paris." Tom jumped as his   
combadge chirped.  
  
"Paris here." He shot B'Elanna a desperate grin.  
  
"Tom, I'm in sickbay with Naomi. I thought maybe you could   
explain to me why she just threw up?"  
  
B'Elanna's hand flew to her mouth and her eyes grew round. "Tom!"   
she exclaimed. "Did you say she ate the other three?"   
  
"Lieutenant Torres?" Samantha Wildman sounded confused.   
The part of Tom's brain that was always on the lookout for   
trouble was glad she wasn't a gossip considering the lateness of   
the hour and his obvious company. Another part of his brain   
wished she had something to gossip about.  
  
"I'm on my way, Sam. Sorry." Tom pushed away from B'Elanna.   
The feel of her firmly muscled arms under his hands made his palms   
tingle. "I'll see you sometime tomorrow. On the bridge maybe--  
'nite!" Tom dove for the open doorway.  
  
B'Elanna shook her head and rolled her eyes. Her tongue snaked   
Out and licked the chocolate from her chin. She would never figure   
out Tom Paris.   
  
  
  
  
  
* 'I Love You' copyright 1992 Treat Baker Music (SOCAN)  
from the album, GORDON by the Barenaked Ladies.  
Words by A Creegan, J Creegan, S Page and E Robertson  
Music by A Creegan and J Creegan   
  
The original words are: I like soup, and I like ice cream   
sandwiches, too. I like fish sticks, but I love you.  
  
Please don't be offended that I changed them a little to suit my   
story.  



End file.
